Missing A Son
by Necromancy
Summary: Only a week after big Chris left, an Elder took baby Chris away, now, nine years later, the Charmed Ones find him back, but another family already has their eyes on him.
1. Default Chapter

Piper sat in a rocking chair in the nursery, holding her week old baby Chris in her arms. She had been told that the older version of her son had died in her bed, and ever sense then she hadn't felt good about sleeping in it. She would always get up and move down to the couch in the middle of the night. They had been looking for a new bed and found one, but it would be until tomorrow that they got it.  
  
The baby was sleeping soundly, content in his mother's arms. Piper looked at his small, chubby face and smiled. The baby may not have looked like his older self, not yet, but he was still quiet. Wyatt's cry was loud and demanding, while Chris's was more laid back and quiet. Older Chris was always quiet. He said what needed to be said, but he was quiet.  
  
Wyatt whimpered silently in his own crib. The two-year-old was dreaming. Wyatt didn't seem to like his younger brother, but that was to be expected. He had been an only child for so long, and suddenly this other kid comes into his family, stealing most of the attention and making noise all of the time. No one would be happy about that.  
  
Wyatt liked to orb his brother away when he was crying, or when his mother was to busy with Chris to show him the attention that he wanted. Of course he got scolded after that, but at least it was attention.  
  
Piper got up and placed Chris in his own crib, covered him up with a blanket and walked over to the door. She looked back. The room was crowded with two cribs and baby toys laying everywhere. There was very little room for the new baby, but the family was determined to make it work.  
  
Leo would always have to simply look at Chris, just to make sure that he was there and he hadn't vanished again. Leo was being super dad to Chris. When the baby cried, he would always run to him. He would orb if he could, but the Elders had been very angry about the murder of Gideon. He was bumped down to being a simple whitelighter again, and he now had his wings clipped for three years. No one seemed to mind. It was good to have Leo back in their lives.  
  
Piper closed the door and headed to her room. As soon as they knew she was gone, purple orbs came, followed by many demons who shimmered in. The Elder was Darwin, Gideon's ace in the hole. He had told his good friend about the dangers of Wyatt, and told him that if he should ever fail, then he would have to finish what he started. Darwin had agreed and he was now for filling his promise. The only problem was, he didn't know which child was Wyatt!  
  
He had trusted Gideon to take care of the kid, so he had never worried about it. After all, Gideon was smart and powerful. How hard could it be to kill one baby? He had lost touch with the Charmed Ones lives altogether when a charge that was half demon came to be and she needed to be watched constantly for any signs of the demon taking over the witch. And he had only been expecting one child, and here there were two.  
  
"Well?" one of the demons asked, causing Darwin to jump a little. God he was nervous! He had never killed before. He punished those who did kill, and here he was breaking every rule he ever thought to be right.   
  
"Shut up, you fool! We can't wake anyone!" the Elder scolded. The demon gave a small growl. He didn't like being treated like some lackey. The only reason he was here was because this Elder made a good point. This kid was to powerful and if he grows up, then no demon could stand in his way and he would be vanquished in no time.  
  
Darwin was thinking over which child he should take when footsteps could be heard coming to the room.  
  
_"Hurry!"_ his brain commanded. Darwin panicked. He didn't even think. He reached into the crib nearest to him and orbed out. He could hear the door open and a voice scream; "Demons in the nursery!" Then the sounds of a battle starting faded away.  
  
Darwin orbed into a church. Churches had no people at night, the perfect place for the murder of this poor...innocent...little baby. Darwin's mind began to wander to the good this child could do with this power. No! This was too much power for one person, the power would turn him. But Wyatt hadn't done anything yet. Maybe the Charmed Ones watching him would keep him good. But Gideon had said that the child was bad. But it was just a baby!  
  
Darwin continued to think as the baby slept soundly. He didn't seem to realize that he had been moved or that he was being held. He was so innocent... His mind was made up. He wouldn't kill the child, he couldn't. He set Wyatt down on one of the pews and orbed out. Who could kill a baby?  
  
**-Nine Years Later-**  
  
"Chris! Get down from there!" a child called up a tree. It was a cloudy day, windy but warm. Mark had dared his friend to climb to the top of this tree, he was just joking. The tree was almost insanely big, and no nine-year-old should be going up that high. But Chris was a daredevil, and here he was showing that.  
  
Chris was almost to the top, he had to only go a little way and he could see over San Francisco. Mark was calling after him, telling him to come down and stop being an idiot, but Chris was having too much fun. Soon, Mark's voice could be heard as a whisper and his words could not be understood.  
  
He arrived at the top of the tree and found a suitable place to sit down and over look the city. He liked being up high; it made him feel more powerful then what a nine-year-old orphan was. As the wind blew, he blew as well on the flimsy branches. And people told him it was dangerous to get this high. He saw no danger, just fun and of course a good shot of adrenaline.  
  
After a few minutes, he decided to return back down to earth. Chris started his slow way down, being careful to get his footing just right and to avoid any branches that were unable to hold his weight. But he didn't notice how thin one branch was and as soon as his weight rested on it, the branch gave way. Chris let out a small yelp of surprise but was quick enough to grab hold of another branch that could be trusted.  
  
He breathed a sigh of relief and looked around to see that everything had stopped. Little ants held their position and the leaves stopped blowing in the wind. Great! He had done it again. His stupid hands had frozen where he was and now he had to sit and wait for it to wear off.  
  
This happened a lot. He would freeze not only his surroundings, but the people around him as well. In about ten minutes everything would start to move again and no one would realize that they had just been frozen.  
  
But other things happened. Things would move, or if he thought of something hard enough, it would come to him. The scariest thing was when something would blow up. He just couldn't control what happened. His hands seemed to be the trouble, but some of it was his mind.  
  
Chris sighed. He wouldn't think about this, he would think about how the older kids would envy him when he told them that he had done something else that they had never dared to do. One time, they had been swimming in a pond. On the sides of the pond were rocks that you could jump off of, and there was one that no one dared to go off. It was much too high.  
  
Little seven-year-old Chris climbed up and jumped off the rock, smacking the water hard and touching the bottom of the middle of the pond. By the time he had gotten back up to the surface of the water, he was completely out of breath, sore from hitting the water so hard, and the swim back to shore was about the hardest thing he ever had to do. But in the end he made it and everyone understood that he was no ordinary child.   
  
The scene began to move once again and Mark's voice came back.  
  
"Chris, come back down!"  
  
"I'm comin', I'm comin'." Chris replied. He jumped down and landed on his feet, facing Mark with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
"Good, 'cause we know that that's the most important thing in the world. Chris must be happy or we all die."  
  
"Damn right."  
  
"You're to young to be cursing." Mark scolded playfully.  
  
"No I'm not." Chris didn't understand what made a bad word a bad word. Who had such power to say that a few words were worse then all the rest? No one did as far as he was concerned. And he hung out with fifteen- year-olds that cursed all the time. He knew how to use the so-called 'bad words.'  
  
"Chris! Mark! Come on! Terri wants us!" Came a voice. They both turned to see a boy a few feet away. Terri was their 'mother.' She owned the orphanage and took care of all of them.  
  
The two quickly started running toward their home. Terri was a mother to be respected. No one rebelled in the orphanage. They all listened to what Terri told them to do, and when she wanted someone, they came to her, she didn't come to them. The kids were just thankful that she took care of them. They could be on the streets with no one to love them or at one of the big time orphanages where you were just there to make the owners money, not to be loved.  
  
Kids ran wildly threw the busy San Francisco streets. Mark and Chris met up with many of their friends as they ran along, pushing threw people with no respect. Any one of these bastards could be the one that threw them away in some orphanage, so why be nice? They ran to meet up with Kerri, to make her happy that they got to her so quickly. See, they could be good kids. Their parents had no right to throw them away.  
  
Kids began pouring into the doors and sitting in the tiny living room. Thirty-seven children of all ages. The youngest was three and she was carried around by the oldest who was seventeen, his birthday was next week. He had been talking with Kerri to adopt the little girl that he had been with for almost a year now. They had grown to love each other and he didn't know how to give her up.  
  
"Everybody here?" Kerri asked as she stepped into the doorway. She was forty-two, but looked about ten years older. The voices of all the kids came into a 'yes.' "Good. Now, all of you have to be cleaned up tomorrow. We have a nice couple coming in wanting to adopt early in the morning, so be on your best behavior." Everyone moaned. They hated when a family came in. Either one of their family members was taken away, or they would all be rejected and feel like they weren't worth adopting.  
  
"Oh, don't give me that." Kerri said and everyone fell silent.  
  
"Kerri, your not gonna let them take Emily are you?" Ryan asked with the three-year-old on his knee. She didn't quite understand what it meant to have a family come yet, and Ryan wanted to make sure she never remembered that she was put up for adoption.  
  
"Nope, Emily is all yours." She smiled at Ryan, happy to know that the baby was going with someone she knew and trusted. Ryan was a good boy, and his eyes lit up when he knew that Emily was all his. "Now, off to bed with all of you. You're getting up early tomorrow." Everyone moaned once again to show their displeasure then headed to their rooms.  
  
Chris shared a room with eleven other kids, all older then him.  
  
"Why does she even make us show ourselves off?" John asked. "I'm sixteen, two more years until I'm off to collage, no one wants that. They always go for the babies." He complained.  
  
"Even Chris is to old for anyone, and he still has nine years left on him." Mark said.  
  
"But people want the whole experience." John countered.  
  
"I can't see why." Hunter said. "Who wants to get up ten times at night just to change a diaper full of shit?"  
  
"God knows."  
  
The boys settled into their beds. One girl was in their room, but she was only twelve, so Kerri didn't think that anything bad would happen to her in a room full of guys.  
  
Chris didn't fall right asleep. He thought it over. He would never be chosen to be with a family. He would be like John or Ryan, here all their lives, living with so many others and wearing rags for cloths. Sure it could be nice but everyone wanted a family. But he was nine, no one wanted him. He didn't know what he would do away from everyone anyway. He loved them all, even if not all of them loved him back. He wouldn't know how to act in a family.  
  
Soon, the sounds of everyone else's steady breathing took him over and rocked Chris to sleep the way it always did. He liked it here, it was nice and he didn't want to leave. But a family was the greatest thing in the world, and he wanted one.  
  
A/N: Okay, first chapter. Read and review!! 


	2. Being Chosen

Disclaimer: I forgot this last time. I don't own Charmed, and I don't really want too.  
  
A/N: My story and A Future Remolded by Pink-Charmed-One are both very much alike. I will not deny it. But, just for anyone who is thinking it, I did not copy off of her story! This story had been in my mind forever and I finally decided to put it up when I saw that hers was doing so well. I already have 5 chapters written up and I have had them for a while now, so nothing from her story was copied into mine. Anyone who still has any questions or still thinks that I copied, then please e-mail me and I will explain everything. Read her story A Future Remolded!! It's good!!!  
  
"Wake up!" Faye screamed at the top of her lungs. The ten boys in her room quickly shot up, looking around for the danger. When they heard her giggling, they all sighed.  
  
"Faye, how many times have we told you, Terri will wake us up. You don't need to scream." Hunter told her.  
  
"But its fun." She countered, flopping down on his bed, snuggling up to her 'older brother.'  
  
"Your twelve, aren't you supposed to be more mature then that?" John asked. Faye simply stuck out her tongue. She was spoiled by the boys in her room, so she had no reason to grow up. They all treated her as if she was the ruler of the world.  
  
Terri walked into the room, wearing a smile. "I see everyone is up, thank you Faye." Faye gave a proud smile. "Now, everyone get dressed. And John, no jokes this time!" Everyone gave small laughs. Last time someone came to adopt, he had dressed up like a girl and spoke in a high pitched voice until the couple quickly ran out the door. "Faye, you come with me." She jumped off the bed and left with Terri. A girl couldn't change in a room full of guys.  
  
"Now to have a fun day." Drake said sarcastically. They all took out they're best cloths out of the one big dresser. Clean blue jeans with clean t-shirts, nothing special, but at least there were no rips and no dirt stains.  
  
"We look like a bunch of kids that are desperate for parents." John told them.  
  
"Isn't that what Terri wants?" Chris asked.  
  
"I think she does. But you never know. Terri like to act like we're orphans." John as the know-it-all bad ass. He acted like he cared about no one but himself, but if one of his 'family' members was in trouble, he was the first one there. He seemed to know everything sometimes. He knew more about life then what most of the kids did. The made Chris look up to him. He was smart, independent, and could handle a bad situation without freaking out.  
  
The boys walked slowly down the stairs, like that would slow time down and help prevent the family from coming. The rest of the kids were all already sitting at the tables, waiting for breakfast. Terri refused to serve anything without everyone at the table; like a family.  
  
They took their seats and everyone got a muffin, four pieces of bacon, and an egg with one glass of orange juice. Today was Wednesday, and for every day of the week there was a specific meal picked out.  
  
"Everyone be on their best behavior, don't act like idiots, don't run around, don't be loud, that sort of thing." Terri gave her usual speech and they all had to listen. By the end, Alesha asked the question that everyone had been wondering about.  
  
"What's up with the disaster over there?" she said, pointing to the living room. A chair was broken with its pieces flown all over, the couch had something yellow and slimy all over it, and a huge burn mark was on the carpet. A huge dent was in the wall where it looked like a human had been slammed into it.  
  
Terri cleared her throat. "Nothing really. Just an accident." That was her way of saying 'don't ask anymore.' This seemed to happen all of the time. Burn marks on the ground, loud noises at night, slim everywhere, and things destroyed. Terri refused to tell how they got there.  
  
Breakfast was finished the dishes washed and the living room cleaned. The chair was swept up and thrown away, the hole in the wall was covered by a blanket nailed on the wall. It looked like it was just there as a decoration. The house was swept up, cleaned and looking its best for the couple.  
  
Everyone was tense and nervous, and the house was filled with his or her worries. They could all feel each other's tension, making them more tense and worried. It seemed to get very hot, so the windows were opened. This happened everytime. They all got so worried and it rubbed off on each other.  
  
When the doorbell rang, they all seemed to jump.  
  
"Okay, their here. Everyone get ready." Terri headed over and opened the door. There stood women with black hair, pulled back into a tight bun. She made eye contact with many of the children, and her eyes were ice cold that seemed to slice through them. They quickly looked away. She had fur wrapped around her shoulders and a black dress with a pearl necklace.  
  
Her husband wore a fancy black suite with a pipe in his mouth, gold rings on his fingers. His eyes were black and when he made eye contact, the children became afraid.  
  
"Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Darby. How are you today?"  
  
Mrs. Darby seemed to not even hear Terri speak. "To young, to young, to young," she pointed to all of the youngest children. "Take them away."  
  
"Excuse me?" Terri asked.  
  
She snapped her eyes to meet Terri's, as if angry that she had questioned her. "I don't want anything to young. The last thing I want is to change dippers and live with anything that makes to much noise." She said sternly.  
  
"Looks like we might luck out." Chris whispered over to John.  
  
"Anyone who goes with will have the worst life ever." John responded, leaning down to Chris's level. "I've seen people like her before. Some rich chick who thinks she rules the world. You wouldn't be treated like family; you'd be treated like some business deal."  
  
"If shes so rich, then why would she come to a place like this?" Chris asked.  
  
"Because she doesn't want to spend to much money on something she doesn't really want. The only reason she wants a kid is to carry on the family business. You better pray that she doesn't like you." John showed hat he did know more about life than anyone did at that moment. Chris wished that he would be as smart as John.  
  
"He's much to old. To old, to old, to old." She started pointing to the older kids. John was pointed to as well. "Take them away." She ordered once again. "They would never have enough time to learn everything they need to."  
  
"I told you. Good luck." He said. John nudged Chris, like that might help, and then went up the stairs, carrying two of the four-year-olds as he went. Chris looked at Faye who looked back at him. She looked frightened. The first thought that came to Chris was how much of a baby she acted. He was younger than she was but he was still ten times more mature. Why did everyone have to spoiler her?  
  
By the time Mrs. Darby was done, only eight children remained. Chris was the youngest and Faye was the oldest.  
  
"I told you, I don't want a girl. Women can't handle the family business." Mr. Darby told his wife. Faye and the other three girls looked hurt.  
  
"But this one is so cute." Mrs. Darby countered, motioning to Faye who smiled.  
  
"Cute won't help." He said. His wife sighed and once again demanded; "Take them away." The girls jogged away, leaving only five.  
  
"You take it from here." Mrs. Darby said. "Choose the one you think is 'strong looking.'"  
  
Mr. Darby began looking over the remaining boys. He looked intently into each ones eyes, studding them.  
  
"This one is much to weak. He couldn't handle anything." He said. He went down the line, insulting some, giving others mildly good reviews. When he had went through them all, he stood back and looked at them each. "Him." He said, pointing to Travis who was nine like Chris. Travis was known to be tough, but as soon as he was chosen his eyes filled with fear.  
  
"Me?" he squeaked.  
  
Mr. Darby did seem happy with his choice, until he saw the fear and how weak his voice had been.  
  
"No, no, no!" he yelled. "I thought for sure he would be right. Well, I guess I'll just have to go with him." Mr. Darby pointed to Chris. 


	3. Enter Mrs and Mr Hailliwall

"Wait, me?" Chris asked. He tried to make his voice sound weak, but he couldn't keep his natural strength down.

"Yes, he'll work out fine." Mr. Darby said, nodding.

"Um...are you sure that you want a child?" Terri asked. She didn't want this family taking Chris. "You don't seem...how do I put this...ready."

The two looked outraged to be questioned. That was obviously something that they were not used to. "How dare you!" Mrs. Darby exclaimed. "Someone as lowly as yourself questioning us!"

"Now, now dear." Her husband reasoned. "That is why this nice lady thinks we aren't ready." He chuckled a bit. "You'll have to excuse my wife. She has a bit of a short temper. It's just that she has been wanting a child for so long, and now we finally find one, I guess that she just wants him."

"Right, of course." Terri said reluctantly. She didn't believe a word of it. "Now, you will want to get to know Chris. That is why I have set up a little program where the child spends a week with the family that wants to adopt him, before they adopt him. It helps that family bond." Chris gave Terri a funny look. He knew that wasn't true. "That alright with you?" Terri smiled sweetly.

The couple looked a bit angered by this, but they hid it and smiled. "Of course. It makes perfect sense." Mrs. Darby responded.

"Great. Come with me to fill out some paper work." Terri led them away and Chris quickly bolted upstairs. He barged in the room to see the boys tossing around a basketball while they lay lazily in their bed.

"Chris. Good to see ya back. Did the demons choose you?" John asked. The ball came to him and he tossed it over to Hunter who threw it to Chris.

"Yes!" Chris yelled as he caught it. He flopped down on his bed, lying on his back.

"What?" John asked.

"I don't know. Should I kill myself now, or wait a few days." He asked hopelessly.

"No killing yourself!" Hunter said. His mother had killed herself, leaving him alone with an abusive father.

"It'll be better than living with them! They don't even know my name. All they know is that I'm 'strong'" he used his fingers to motion the quotation. "Any home would be better than that."

"I dunno." Dorian said. "They're rich. That should be a good enough reason to go with them."

"Money isn't everything." Hunter pointed out. "He's only nine, he needs love."

"Hello? Still in the room!" Chris yelled in frustration. He hated having people talk about him like he couldn't hear.

"Okay, Chris, what do _you_ think?" John asked.

"I think I'd rather die then go with them." Chris put a pillow over his head as if to smother himself. The boys laughed. It may not have been funny, but it was to them. It wasn't happening to them. "Not a funny moment, guys." He said, his voice muffled through the pillow.

"You could run away." Hunter offered. "That's what I did."

"And where do you expect me to go? I'm nine!" Chris said, taking the pillow off his face.

Terri walked in the room, giving a sigh of relief. "Well, they're gone." Loud 'hooray's' could be heard. "But, Chris. Tomorrow, you go off to their house for a week."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then they can sue us." Terri said simply.

"Oh."

"So, please just spend the week with them. If you don't like it, then you can say they hit you and not live with them. K?"

"Um...k?" Terri never said anything like this. She wanted the kids to have a good home, but usually only good people came to the poor orphanage so she never had to worry. And if the kids didn't like their new family, she told them to put up with it, you'll learn to love them.

"Good." With that, she walked off, leaving the boys to stare in confusion.

The rest of the day ran smoothly. Nothing special. It rained so the boys and girls had to go play out in the rain then the usual TV time was watched. Someone got a black eye because they wouldn't give up the one computer and dinner was eaten. They were told to turn in early and at one in the morning loud banging could be heard downstairs. Terri's voice could be heard. It sounded like it was chanting something, but everyone was always told to think nothing of it and to stay in their rooms with the door closed.

The next morning, at 7:00 A.M. Terri woke everyone up.

"Wake up! Wake up!" she called. The boys all groaned in protest.

"Terri, what are you doing?" John asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"We have unscheduled people downstairs! Get dressed and come down. Quickly!"

"Tell um to fuck off." John responded, settling back down into bed. "Its to early." The boys in the room looked at John like he was a dead man, then looked over at Terri. You never cursed in front of her.

"John, get dressed and come down into my room. We need to have a little talk." Terri's voice was stern and pissed off. John knew this voice. His head quickly snapped up and looked at her as Terri left the room.

"Oh shit." They all got dressed in their best and headed downstairs. They all looked around for the family but couldn't find them.

"Why am I even here? I'm leaving today." Chris said hopelessly. John went to see Terri and a half an hour later emerged looking upset.

"Okay, everyone." Terri announced. "The couple is waiting for you."

"Where are they?" Alesha asked.

The doorbell rang. "At the front door. They had to leave for a moment, but now their back." She went over and opened the door to reveal a woman with long brown hair, almost to her waist, and a square jaw. She has warm brown eyes and a friendly smile. Her husband towers over her in height. His hair is a light blonde with loving blue eyes.

"Kids, this is Mr. And Mrs. Halliwall." Terri talked as if she knew them.

The kids all said hello, but Chris was laying down on the couch, not even looking at them. He was leaving for the hellhole today, no need for him to look over people who had no chance at getting him. To bad Terri knew everything that was going on at all times.

"Chris! Come see these people! They came a long way, we wouldn't want to cheat them by not letting them see all of the children." She spoke as if she had something up her sleeve, but Chris paid no attention. Terri could be weird sometimes. No one ever put much thought into it. He gave a loud sigh and stomped over to see the couple.

As soon as Chris saw them, something felt familiar. It felt like he had seen them before. But hell, he had seen a lot of people from running around like an insane person for the past nine years on the streets. But this felt different. Almost as if he had been waiting for them. That was crazy!

"Oh my god." Mrs. Halliwall said. Tears came to her eyes and Chris noticed that he felt bad. How did he make her cry? What did he do? It wasn't him! She turned and looked at her husband and nodded.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"I know it."

"What's going on?" Chris asked. This wasn't normal. John had always been teaching Chris, and he always said to hate strangers. You never know who they could be. Killers, kidnappers, terrorists, rapist, or the dirt bag who left you as a baby. This woman was a complete stranger and he felt bad about making her cry.

"Chris, these are your parents."


	4. Talking With The Parents

"Huh?" Chris asked dumbly. He didn't care that it was stupid, or that he looked stupid by just standing there, mouth slightly open in shock. Everyone was whispering to one another, looking to the Hailliwalls then to the shocked Chris.

Chris looked at John. John always knew what to do. But, it didn't seem that way today. His eyes held sadness, and mostly anger. He shook his head to tell his friend that he had no help this time.

Chris looked back at his 'parents.' They had left him, so why are they back? Only one way to find out; ask. Wait, why can't I ask? Talk, damn it!

"I'm sure you have questions." Terri said. Mrs. Halliwall had begun to cry, and her husband was studying Chris. "Come with me into my office and we will explain everything." Terri led the three into a little room with a desk and four chairs stationed in front of it. Everyone watched as they walked away, whispering their thoughts to one another.

Terri sat behind the desk, and the Halliwalls sat in the chairs to the right and the left of Chris, causing him to feel trapped.

"Chris, I'm sure you're very confused right now, and no one can doubt you for that. But, Piper and Leo Halliwall are you biological parents." There was a silence where they all looked at Chris, expecting him to say something but he continued to fidget with his fingers and stare at them, not the people around him. Too bad he could still feel their stares burning into his skin, causing him to feel even more trapped.

'_Shit!' _was the first word that continuously came to mind.

Terri cleared her throat when she realized that Chris wasn't going to say anything. "I'm sure you're wondering why they have come back for you."

"Chris, we are so sorry." Piper said to her son. The son that she had been chasing after for nine years, the son that had been the only thing on her mind for nine years. Now here he was, just sitting there, right in front of her and all she wanted to do was hug him and lever let go. But Piper realized that that would be uncomfortable and probably unwanted to Chris.

_'Sure you are.' _Chris thought, but he found that he still could not find his voice to speak and say that out loud.

"There is a good reason why they left you, but it will be hard for you to understand." Terri said, causing Piper and Leo to stop looking at their son and look at Terri with confused expressions on their faces.

"How do you know what happened to Chris?" Leo asked.

"I'm a whitelighter." (gasp from the crowd Very good to everyone who guessed it! Back to fic)

"You're a what?" Chris asked. Ya sure, now he can talk.

"A whitelighter is a magical being who watches over certain witches, their charges, given to them by the Elders." Terri explained.

"Witches? Elders?" Chris asked but he laughed. "Either this is some well thought out plan, or you're all insane. I'm really leaning over to the second one right now." _'Yay! I can talk'_

"Chris, listen to me. All of those weird things that you would hear in the night. Me getting unexplained injuries the next morning. Slime, burn marks and things broken everywhere. That was me vanquishing demons, who were after you."

"Now I know you're insane. I don't get how non-of us realized it before!"

"Don't talk to me that way Chris. I have raised you for nine years and I expect you to value that." Terri said sternly, using her motherly authority.

"Yes ma'am." Chris muttered.

"Good. Now listen. An Elder kidnapped you when you were a baby and dropped you off in a church. You were brought to this orphanage. I wasn't the owner of it at that time, but when demons learned that a Charmed Ones son was unprotected, one came to kill you. When the old owner got in the way, she was killed. The Elders soon learned about where you were and sent me to get the orphanage and watch over you."

"Why didn't they tell us where he was?" Piper demanded. Betrayed by the Elders again.

"They thought it best not to tell you. A few Elders only knew the knowledge that Chris was here. They figured that he was safer here. There are still Elders out there who believe that Chris wasn't meant to be. It was a miracle for you to have one child Piper, and another came, completely unexpected. Wyatt was prophesized to be an only child of the eldest Charmed One. Many Elders believe that Chris could be a sleeper, placed inside Piper to kill the Charmed Ones when told."

"That's bullshit!" Piper yelled.

"A charmed what?" Chris asked, obviously not following.

"Yes, I know it is. But the Elders thought it best. They were only looking out for Chris's well being."

"If they wanted him to be safe then they should have just returned him to his parents where he belongs!"

"Now Piper. Calm down." Leo said soothingly. "We have him now and there is nothing they can do about it."

"I'm still in the room!" Chris yelled, getting all of their attention. "I am not understanding any of this. Demons? Elders and Charmed Ones? Magic? This makes no sense at all. So how about we forget about it?" he started to get up and out of his chair but Terri commanded him to sit back down, which he did with an annoyed sigh.

"I know that this must be very difficult for you to take in, but its all true. I'm sure that you've realized that you have done things before. Things that you couldn't explain."

"Well, yeah." Chris said, reluctant to tell them anything. "Like, I've moved things and made things stop. Oh, and if I think about going somewhere too much, I kinda go there. But that's not magic, its just weird shit that happens." Chris didn't bother to not curse. Terri resisted the urge to yell at him, but Piper didn't.

"How is it that your nine years old and you already know that kind of language?" she asked sternly.

Chris looked at her. How dare she just yell at him! She had no right! He wanted to say that, but found that he didn't. That would make her feel bad, and he didn't want to make her feel bad. He just went back to fidgeting with his fingers and watching that like it was interesting.

"Piper, don't yell at him like that." Leo said, catching that Chris didn't like that.

"Now, I'm afraid that we have a slight problem. Another family has already begun to work on adopting Chris."

"What!?" Piper exclaimed.

"Can't you tell them that the biological parents are here for him?"

"These are very powerful people. I'm sure that they would bring you to court and find you as unfit parents. Getting Chris and Wyatt taken away from you."

"Wyatt?" Chris asked.

"Your older brother." Leo told him.

"I have a brother?" At least he wouldn't suddenly turn into an only child. He wouldn't be able to stand that. He was much to used to being surrounded by other kids.

"Yes you do. He didn't come today because he too used to getting all excited that he may finally find his brother back, and then getting let down. He has been waiting for you to come back, Chris." Leo said. Chris found that he liked this man, he was nice.

"So, what do we do?" Piper asked. She wasn't going to lose Chris again. She couldn't.

"Well, he has to go spend a week with the family today. I can't stop that from happening. But he can make up some excuse so that he doesn't have to go live with them."

"But Terri! I don't want to go with them! They're mean!" Chris whined.

"Chris there is nothing I can do. You have to go with them otherwise we will get in trouble. It's only a week."

"Fine. I'll go pack." He stands up in the chair and jumps out of it. Then goes over to the door. When he opens it, every child in the orphanage is waiting by the door, trying to hear what is going on. When they see that they have bee busted, they all run for it.

A/N: Okay, I was planing on going on with this chap, but my sister is nagging on me to get off. It's her turn. I'll get the other one up soon, no worries there. Well, okay, I do take forever to update. But I have four other people in my house who always want the computer!


	5. Family Time

allaboutelephants22- dude, that is so freaky! MY last name is darby too. I used it in this story to represent the cold heartless bastards my parents are. Freaky...lol.

Soon enough the Darbys came around, wanting to pick up their 'son.'

"Now, don't mention your real parents. Just keep quiet about that. Have fun." Terri said to Chris. She gave him a kiss on the forehead, as if that would help matters.

"I really don't want too." Chris was sure to remind her. "I'm doubting any fun will be had there. I wanna meet my brother."

"I know, but good things come to those who wait." Terri assured him.

"I'm not good at waiting. You should know that." Chris said with a little smile. "I still don't get this whole magic thing." He said, trying to stall as much as possible.

"We will explain all that in one week." She led Chris out to the living room where the couple was standing there, waiting. All of the children had fled to their rooms in fear that they could hurt them.

"Is he ready?" Mr. Darby asked.

"Yeah, he's got everything he'll need." Terri informed them. "Have fun." She said one more time as she handed over the little boy to these people.

Chris walked reluctantly over to the couple. He had a backpack that he dragged along the floor that held all of his things. Nine years old and he had to make tough decisions. Why did he get a feeling that this wont turn out well?

"Come along now, Chris." Mr. Darby said. Someone must have told the two what the boys name was. "Pick up your bag, don't drag it." he barked. Chris lifted the book bag onto one of his shoulders and felt like barking right back 'Are you happy now?' but he decided that would be a bad idea. Instead, he just walked out the door with everyone's eyes on him.

He could tell that everyone in the orphanage was full of pity for him. Could things really be this terrible? Maybe these people weren't as mean as they seemed.

The three exited the orphanage to see a limo waiting. A man quickly scrambled out of the drivers seat and opened the door. Without even looking at him, the Darbys entered the back seat. Chris of course took time to see this. He had never seen anything like this, accept on TV. He found it very interesting.

"Come in the car Chris." Mrs. Darby called. Chris did as he was told and they drove off. Mr. Darby automatically started talking on his cell phone and Mrs. Darby started doing paper work of some kind.

_'If this is the kind of business they want me to take up, then forget it.' _ They didn't try talking to him, or making him feel welcome or anything like that. It was almost as if Chris wasn't there and they weren't trying to adopt a child. _'This will be just loads of fun.' _He continued to think, starring out the window.

It had to have taken a little more than half and hour to get to the house. That meant that these people had gone out of their way to find a child. Maybe that made them good people. Or maybe it meant that they had wanted Chris all along. Wait, this was stupid. He was just being paranoid! There was no way that they had wanted Chris this entire time. He was so busy thinking about this, he didn't notice the glance that the couple flashed at each other.

They pulled up to a gate that blocked off the house. After a moment, the gate opened and they drove up a path that couldn't really be called a driveway. It circled around a big fountain with water pouring out of statues and led up to a mansion. Chris stared in amazement. He had never seen anything like this! The house was beautiful with flower gardens and little trees in front of a house that was the biggest thing he had ever seen! Was this really where he would be staying?

"Come on, Chris. We have to get you inside and show you around." Mrs. Darby said. The door opened and they excited the car, once again not taking the time to even acknowledge the driver's presence.

The three entered giant wooden doors as the limo drove off. Chris looked around in awe when he saw the inside. Marble floors, painting, tapestries, everything that seemed like it would be for a rich person. It all seemed to glow it was so clean!

"Is this...really the house?" All of this was more than fascinating for a little orphan boy.

"Of course. What? Did you think that we just brought you to some stranger's house? I think the alarm system would have gone off by now." Mrs. Darby said with a sweet smile. That was something Chris had never seen before. He didn't think he would ever see it, but now that he saw this woman smiling, she seemed a lot nicer.

"I should show you your room, shouldn't I." Mrs. Darby said. She took Chris's hand in hers and led him up the stairs. They walked down a hallway and made a left turn and finally arrived at another wooden door. She opened it to reveal a room that seemed to be bigger than the orphanage. The walls were white with a bed in the corner, made and looking nice. There was no carpet, but there was a large rug in the middle of the room. There were two doors that lead out to a balcony and even another section to the room.

"This is my room?" asked Chris, amazed. This room could fit everyone in his old room easily.

"Of course. We can't have you being uncomfortable, can we?"

"Uuhh...I guess." When Mrs. Darby saw that Chris was only going to stare in wonder, she decided to go on with the tour.

"How about I show you the best part of the house." She said.

"You mean other than its size?"

"Well, actually," she took his hand and led him back through the hall. "Its size can sometimes be quite the bother."

"Don't you have maids or something?"

"Yes. But not very many. It's hard to find good help these days, Some steal, some slack off. That sort of thing. The ones we have are pretty good. They will love you." The two reached the stair well and began to walk down. At the bottom was a skinny young woman in a maid's outfit. He red hair was in a cute ponytail.

"Mrs. Darby, hello. Is this the child you were talking about?" she asked, motioning to Chris.

"Yes. Nicole, this is Chris. Chris, this is Nicole."

"Nice to meet you." Nicole said with a smile. "Oh he is so cute!" Chris gave a shy smile. He wasn't very accustomed to hearing strangers say how cute he was.

"I know. I can't wait until we have him full time." She led Chris a little way along and didn't seem to notice his stares at the chandlers hanging from the ceiling or at everything else that look very expensive, and very breakable.

They pasted by a big office building where Mr. Darby was still on his cell phone. Chris's curiosity took over and he had to stop and see what was being said.

"Yes, we have him. Lythia is-"he was cut off by the doors quickly slamming and Mrs. Darby turning to Chris.

"It's not nice to listen in on other peoples conversations, is it?" she asked.

"No." he responded weakly. Busted. Would she yell? Would she hit him? He prepared for impact.

"Good. Don't do it again. Come on." She took his hand to insure that he didn't wander and continued with the tour.

That was lucky. Mrs. Darby must not have been as mean as she seemed.

They soon arrived at a door. Nothing special about this door. Just a normal door. But when she opened it, there was a huge greenhouse, full of one to many plants. All of the flowers in bloom and the trees somehow survived in this environment, growing better than what Chris had ever seen.

"Do you like it?" Mrs. Darby asked, not needing to because she saw the look on his face. As a natural born Wiccan, Chris loved nature. He may not have known about his religion yet, but he had always loved plants and cared about nature.

"All of the flowers look perfect. There isn't a single one that isn't in bloom. How is that?"

"Lets just say, its magic." She said. "Todd didn't want a big garden like this, it coasts too much to keep so nice. But I finally talked him into it." she said with pride.

"Todd?" Chris asked, not recognizing the name.

"Oh, how foolish of me. We can't have you calling us 'Mrs. Darby and Mr. Darby' now can we? No. My name is Laura, and his is Todd."

"Oh. Plain and simple names like Chris." He pointed out.

"You could think of it like that. Oh, over in the middle there that's a cute little glass table that you can eat a relaxing breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Just sitting around, listening to the birds sing. It can calm anyone down." Mrs. Darby- Laura- seemed very proud of her garden.

She gave a tour of the garden and a tour of the rest of the house. It was all beautiful and she introduced him to everyone on staff. Chris was scared that he would forget one of the many names or that he would get them confused. But was really scary was that when he was introduced to the chef, he said that Chris look cute enough to eat. He would avoid that chef, and smell whatever he fed him before eating it.

By ten o'clock the tour was finally over and Chris's feet actually hurt form all of that walking. How would he ever live with all of this? He was sure he would get used to it. But he wouldn't have to. He would be moving in with his real parents soon enough. Not having to live with these mean people.

Chris was sent to bed and for a moment, he thought he was lost. At midnight, he still wasn't able to sleep. He was to busy thinking. When he heard rustling coming from outside, he flipped the light on and listened. He soon heard someone flop over to the other side of the balcony and walk around on it for a moment. The person then silently rasped on the window, causing Chris to start freaking out. Should he call for help? No, Mr. Darby wanted him to be strong. He had to prove his worth.

The boy silently climbed out of bed and very slowly made his way over to the window. His heart was beating very quickly, and with every step and every tap at the window, it got even faster. He tried to think back to when he had been more afraid, but his mind was one big blank. When Chris finally reached the window, he thought of running back and hiding under the covers. No, he would open the curtains, see that it was a tree branch and laugh at himself.

He reached out and flew the curtains open after a moment of hesitation. He gave out a small scream and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a person on his balcony. He was just about to turn around and run but the person stopped him by talking.

"No! No Chris. It's me. It's me, it's John." Chris turned and calmed down to see John's face come into view.

"God John! Scare me half to death!" He reached over and opened the window, allowing his friend to enter.

"You should have seen your face!" John exclaimed with a laugh.

"Haha. It's so funny." Chris said sarcastically, closing the window and walking over and back into bed.

"Damn! Big enough house? These people are loaded!"

"No, really?" Chris rolled his eyes. "So, how did you get here? How did you eve know which room was mine?"

"I snuck out. It's amazing how many women will pick you up if your hitch hiking. And I figured you would want a balcony." John explained, settling down at the edge of Chris's bed.

"Doesn't this place have security?"

"I've gotten into houses with more security then this. So, how are these people treating you?" John was obviously worried.

"Mr. Darby kinda scares me. I didn't see him all day. But Mrs. Darby, shes really nice. And you won't believe the food! Twice baked potatoes, steak, all that good shit!" Chris said, remembering that it had been the best dinner ever.

"Wow. Must have been nice."

"It was. There are a lot of people here, they are just all fifty years older than me." John laughed.

"Well, I'm glad to hear your having a good time." There was obviously something he wanted to say.

"Aw, does Johnny miss me?" Chris said in a baby tone, joking with his usually badass friend.

John threw a pillow at his head and the two laughed. "No, it's just... Ryan have me an idea. I thought that I would..ya know...adopt you when I got old enough." He said quietly.

Chris was silent for a moment, shocked. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm joking. Of course I'm serious!" there was a silence. First there was this family that he thought he would hate and were now turning out to be nice, then his biological parents, and now John, the boy who had been like a father to him more than an older brother, wanted to adopt him. He was nine! How was Chris supposed to make this decision?

A/N: Sorry this takes so long. I've been really busy. Don't mind the spelling mistakes in this, I'm sure there are a lot. I don't have time to go over it. I have to be off right now.


	6. Famiy Time But With Another Family

_Just say you hate me because I know you all do, don't say you love me because I know it's not true. _

John had left soon after, claiming that it would take hours to get home and he was hopping for at least a half an hour of sleep tonight. He climbed out the window and ran off, telling Chris to think about his offer, but he would understand if he said no. Chris had curled up in bed and found it impossible to go to sleep. Too much was on his mind. There were a million things to think about, but his mind was blank. Too much to think about. His little mind couldn't take it.

By 6 o'clock he was still starring at the ceiling. Chris was called down stairs for breakfast. He got up, mumbling about how it was too early to move. He wasn't sure why he was mad about it, he wasn't sleeping anyway.

The rest of the week went by. He got lost almost everyday, having to find one of the butlers or something and ask for help. The house was explored, but it got boring after a little while. There were no children or pets to play with, which made things no fun. He had been surrounded with children all his life and now there were none. His older brother was constantly on his mind. Still, Laura was nice and treated him well, along with everyone else in the house. Everyone but Mr. Darby who stayed in his office all day long, working.

John stopped by almost every night to tell Chris everything that was going on and how he had narrowly escaped getting caught breaking into a house for kicks. The adoption thing was not brought up. John didn't want to pressure Chris into doing something he would regret.

They drove Chris back to the orphanage where Laura looked reluctant to give him up. Everyone bombarded him with questions as soon as he got home, everyone wondering how things went. Chris explained things the best he could, only he added in a little more yelling and him breaking more things then what he really did. Even though he did break a grand total of five things that looked kind of expensive.

When he finally got away, Chris went into his room and locked the door. That may not have been allowed, but who cares. He was going to be leaving soon anyway. Unless he went with John of course, then he would stay with his friends for a few more years, which would be great. No, he wouldn't think about this now. Chris collapsed on the bed he had been in all his life and fell asleep instantly. Sleep was something he couldn't seem to do in that house.

It only took one hour for the Halliwalls to come. Great, now he would be moved to an all new place, again, and meet a lot of new people, again, and have to act like he was having the time of his life when he was really home sick, again. Chris stumbled down the stairs, still tired and his eyes were showing that.

"You ready to go?" Terri asked, smiling sweetly. She was obviously happier to see Chris going with his real parents.

"Um...ya." Chris said, shifting things around in his bag to see if he had everything.

"Good." The Halliwalls led Chris out to their car. It was not a limo and did not have a driver. Mr. Halliwall got in the driver's seat and his wife got in the passenger side, leaving Chris to go in the back. She demanded he put on a seat belt and they took off. Another week away from the orphanage.

"Do you have any questions. Chris?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, the whole magic thing. Shouldn't you all be in a clinic with pretty white jackets?" he asked. Piper smiled, seeing the same sarcasm she had seen in older Chris. She explained things the best she could and took a can of soda she had had and threw it up in the air, flicking her wrists and freezing it. Chris looked at it, amazed.

"See? What we tell you is all true. And I know that you've had experiences with your magic so you have no reason to doubt us." Chris touched a spot of frozen pop and it didn't move. "You need to put a little more force if you want something to move." She grabbed the can and gave it a tug, taking it out of the freeze.

The rest of the drive they both made Chris feel as comfortable as possible, talking to him and listening to what he had to say. They both seemed very nice and Chris was excited to see their home. But he still knew that he would miss everyone in the orphanage.

"Okay, we're here." Leo announced. Chris looked at the manor that hey had pulled up to and was very pleased to see that it wasn't some crummy apartment. He had lived in s crummy house all his life and now that he has seen what its like to live the high life, he wasn't quite prepared to go back to begin poor.

They entered the house and right away he noticed three other kids and three other parents. He sure would feel at home here with so many people.

"Chris! That really is him!" a woman with black hair yelled. She ran up and hugged him and a woman with red hair soon followed.

Chris heard Piper and Leo chuckle a bit and he was able to manage 'help'.

"Okay, okay, let him go." Piper took her sisters off of the boy and Chris noticed that everyone was starring at him.

"Okay, freaky." He said, voicing how nervous he felt.

"We're sorry, it's just that we are all so happy to have you back!" the women with black hair exclaimed, looking as if she wanted to jump up and down.

"Okay, Chris, that there is your Aunt Phoebe." Said Piper, pointing to her. "And that's your Aunt Paige." The two waved as a hello. "And, that there, is your older brother," Chris looked at a blonde haired boy who looked nervous to meet this new person. Yet he looked a bit excited at the same time. "Wyatt."

"Hi." She boy said shyly, not knowing what else to say. What else was there to say? How could you find proper words to say how excited he truly was to meet his younger brother for the first time?

"Hi." Chris responded. Well that sounded stupid.

"That there is your younger cousin Phoenix." Leo pointed to a girl about nine years old, like Chris, with blazing red hair. Her hair came down past her shoulders and he was surprised to see that she had no freckles. Most red heads bore freckles all over, but she had none. "Paige's daughter."

"That explains the red hair." Chris said.

"Not really," Aunt Paige told him. "I have dyed red hair. She decided that she could make a potion all on her own and that was the result." Chris could tell that she was simply reminding her daughter about what had happened and just using him to do so.

Phoenix stuck her tongue out at her mother and giggled when she didn't get yelled at in front of the guest.

"Then there is Celeste and Sage." Leo finished, motioning to the other two children. Celeste was younger, about seven and that was it. She has long black hair and innocent looking eyes. Sage was ten years old, black shaggy looking hair like Chris's and his eyes looked more ornery. Chris could tell that he was the kind of boy that liked to do things wrong, and he had gotten away with plenty of things. "Then there is Brain, Phoebe's husband."

"How come they got such cool names and I'm 'Chris' and hes just 'Wyatt?'" Chris asked. Sure it was rude, but this was his original family, they should be able to put up with him.

Piper only gave a small laugh. "Because you are names after Leo's father, and Wyatt is named after Leo."

"Oh." So that's where his name came from.

"Come on. I'll give you the grand tour." Piper led him around the house and everyone followed. This house wasn't fit for so many people. His mom, his dad, Aunt Paige, Phoenix, Aunt Phoebe and her two children then Brian. How could he fit? Phoenix already shared a room with her mother, then Celeste and Sage shared one and Phoebe and Brain were together. That wasn't so bad. After all, they were married. He would share a tiny room with Wyatt.

It was a nice house. But when they took him to the attic, Chris was shocked. They explained this 'Book of Shadows' thing and potions. All sorts of spells and they showed him a few demons.

"This is all real?" Chris asked, looking at some pointy and slimy demon.

"Very real." Paige told him. "But don't worry, your dad can heal. You don't have to face any of these demons until your older. Wyatt's age. You're still two years away from that. Oh, we vanquished him." She said when he turned the page and saw some dog thing.

"How do you vanquish them?" Chris asked, getting interested. He wondered why he wasn't scarred. Shouldn't he be worried about this? He was about to jump headfirst into a brand new world that was life threatening.

"Well, sometimes we can use a spell, or a potion, or, if we're lucky of course, Piper can just blow him up." Paige said. "But that doesn't happen very often."

"Will I be able to write spells?" Chris asked, actually excited at this thought.

"Of course. All witches can. It's one of the best parts. Oh! Wyatt vanquished that one there." Paige said when they landed on another demon. Wyatt smiled at the memory and of the fun party afterward.

"Mom!" Sage yelled from downstairs. The Charmed Ones rushed down the stairs and when Chris tried to follow, Wyatt stopped him.

"They don't need us, I'm sure it's fine." He said.

"But I want to see!" his younger brother whined.

"I didn't get to see my first demon until I was ten, so you have to wait." Phoenix orbed the rest of the children up to the attic. They each looked just upset that they fight the demon, let alone see it.

"That thing looked so kick ass!" Sage yelled.

"You got a good look?" Phoenix said amazed. "Details!"

"Let me find it," Sage said, going over to the book and flipping through. His cousins crowded around, urging him to find the demon faster and he would snap at them. "Here it is!" he exclaimed, pointing to a demon. The picture was of a demon in a black cloak, the hood over its face in an eerie way, but its face could still be seen. Runes were etched into his face and in his hands.

"Mortian," Celeste read. "An upper lever demon. A vanquishing spell hasn't been found and he has the ability to heal, physic ability, and feeds off the powers of demon, mystical creatures, and even witches."

"Sounds powerful." Chris said.

"You think this is information mom and the aunts will want?" Sage asked. A scream came from downstairs and they all looked at one another.


End file.
